Have you used a frequency/tone CD w/SPL meter ...

Nice to read everyone's responses so far.

Tbooe, the Rat Shack meter, IMO, is fine for this task. I have an analog one, as well as a calibrated digital unit from Monarch Instruments (Model 321 @ $259). Both read quite similarly head to head.

Obviously, I'm a proponent of this sort of objective assessment of one's system. Loudspeaker/listener position changes to mitigate room modes on the bass end, as well as effects of room treatments and subwoofer integration all benefit, in my experience. It is revelatory simply to measure, albeit somewhat imprecisely, the in-room performance of one's painstakingly-assembled components. My, what our ears/brains must accept simply in the frequncy domain as "faithful" reproduction!

Panacea - hell no, but anyone integrating a subwoofer/pair will likely be very surprised at the imprecision of plate amp crossover/phase/parametric EQ adjustments, for one. I recently spent a number of hours dialing in stereo "sub"woofers (10 inch Focal woofers with Adire ADA300 Class D plate amps - DIY))to even out terribly uneven 30-160 Hz in-room response with fairly inflexible loudspeaker/listener positioning constraints. The Adire plate amps are among the elite of their ilk, with dual crossovers, continuous phase adjust and 2 band parametric EQs (16-80Hz freq range and continuous Q adjust). Nonetheless, the physics of my listening room proved more complex and unforgiving even for this array of "tools". I did achieve +/- 6.5 Hz from 30-12,000Hz compared with +/- 12Hz before adding/dialing in the powered woofers. Subjectively, vastly more enjoyable.

Kenyonbm...There have been many (too many?) postings about the Behringer DEQ2496. You can also download the complete users manual from the Behringer website, as well as the sales brochure.

i tried a spectral analyzer, but the quality iwas not sufficient for the task. i believe the use of a well designed spectral analyzer at the listening position, using white noise can give a clue as to stereo system frequency response imbalances. then one has to figure out if the room is responsible and or the components.

Eldartford,
I have a Behringer, and ran the auto eq and was done. How do i use it as a spectrum analyzer? Do i just play a test cd and watch the values? Then move things around to get things closer to flat? Thanks.

Okay, I am going to out myself a little bit. I own a company which rents and sells SLMs, FFTs, RTAs, various spectrum analyzers,etc. As far as the perfect measurement and alignment goes, you would use a sound source like a Bruel and Kjaer 4204 or 4205, measured by a Real Time Analyzer with at the very least 1/3rd octave analyzer and preferably a 1/32nd with a calibrated preamp and microphone. The sound source has known values in an anechoic chamber and the frequencies it puts out are compared via the RTA to the ones measured in the free field. I cannot count the number of times I have seen "acoustics experts" not even make corrections for the pressure response curve of a measuring microphone above it's actuator drop-off value(the difference between using an electrostatic actuator directly on the diaphram and the actual response of the microphone in air) which is over 10dB oftentimes at 20kHz. Once the room is defined, then one would do whatever you could to equalize the room nodes, before even starting with the speakers. Ideally one would feed two channels of 1/4" microphones into a test torso at the listening position. Once the room was treated appropriately, one would use full spectrum pink noise or even better, a continuous swept sine wave with relatively high harmonic content, averaged, on auto-continuous, and watch the display as one moves the speakers, chair,etc for a better reading.

However, it is well known that most people do not pschycoachoustically "like" a flat response. (read Gundy curve) When one has a rectangular room, any number of simple programs will project the room nodes with great accuracy, and it is well known that the first reflection of the tweeter is very important to ameliorate. I have found that when I have measured friend's room, if the bass nodes are taken care of, reflective surfaces are minimized, and the first reflection of the tweeter is absorbed, the rest is generally up to user tastes. The biggest problem my staff sees when we help friends, is that generaly the speakers are just waaay too close to the rear walls. The confusion in sound propagation caused by that, or by setting the speakers in a null spot, are terrible.

I see Bruel and Kjaer 2032s, 2033s,2133 and 2144s on ebay for under a grand, preamps and microphones for less than a few hundred, if you really really want to maximize your room/speaker interface, seems like a cheap price to pay relative to most people's systems.

It seems to me like people who want you to spend 50 grand (dealers and manufactureres) on a pair of amps would spend a few thousand to help ALL of their customers maximize their listening experiences. In my opinion, considering they might have to buy one unit, it would be a small, teeny tiny little cost. On the other hand, the experienced guys dial in speakers pretty well without the measuring devices, but dang, if they are gonna make a big deal about 1db difference in an amp response, and there are room nodes of 15dB, it sure wouldn't hurt them to have this stuff.

I do high end audio
for fun and a hobby, which is why I have been loathe to comment on these types of forums. This is my getaway from work, I will be more than glad to help my fellow audiophiles where I may, which is a joy to me. I want to stress though, that if you are in my area, I'll bring some audio measuring toys over for fun to help, but I have no desire to take a dime from anybody in this hobby. (unless, of course, I am selling my used audio components) :):)